A video call keeps freezing. You can reach the website, but something along the connection may be unreliable. Your next step is to collect evidence before changing settings.

In Windows Command #17, tracert, you learned to inspect the route. pathping follows that route and repeatedly probes its hops to estimate delay and packet loss.

Start with a familiar destination

Open Command Prompt and run:

pathping /n microsoft.com

The /n option skips name lookups for intermediate routers. The command lists hops first, then collects statistics. Let it finish; this stage can take a few minutes.

For a shorter practice sample, request 20 probes per hop:

pathping /n /q 20 microsoft.com

The default is 100. A smaller sample is quicker, but gives you less evidence.

Watch the command in action

Watch the demonstration, then return to your own report and identify the destination row.

Roger Zimmerman — How the pathping command works.

Read the results carefully

RTT means round-trip time. Lost/Sent compares missing replies with probes sent. For example, 2 missing replies out of 20 is 10%.

Source to Here summarizes results from your computer to that hop. This Node/Link estimates loss at an individual router or link; a vertical bar marks a link row.

Loss shown at one router does not necessarily mean it fails to forward traffic. Compare later hops and the destination before blaming a device.

Practice: write a useful support note

Run one test to a destination you normally use. Record the time, destination, whether you used Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and the destination’s reported loss. Write: “At [time], pathping to [destination] reported [result] while [symptom] occurred.”

If the symptom returns, repeat the same test and compare your notes. Include incomplete results rather than guessing what missing replies mean.

Key takeaway

pathping helps you investigate an unreliable connection by collecting route and reply statistics. Use the report as evidence to investigate, rather than a reason to replace equipment immediately.

Reference: Microsoft Learn: pathping syntax and output.